The Animanicast- An Animaniacs Podcast

The Animanicast is a podcast dedicated to the classic animated television series "Animaniacs." Join your hosts Joey, Nathan and Kelly as they revisit each episode in the order in which they were released. They'll discuss their favorite moments, jokes, characters as well as their memories of first watching the episode. The show's pop cultural references are also discussed and explored in detail. (You might just learn some cool facts!) In the end, each episode receives a "Water Tower Rating" from the hosts. So cue up an episode of Animaniacs on Hulu or on DVD and then listen to the Animanicast to keep the fun going!

Categories

Each and every week, your hosts revisit an episode of the series in the order in which they first premiered. They discuss their favorite jokes, gags, and discuss all the cultural references they can find! In this special episode, Joey, Nathan and Kelly welcome back Tom Ruegger as well as the incredibly talented Randy Rogel who wrote some of the most iconic songs from Animaniacs!

Discussing the Music of Animaniacs with Tom Ruegger and Randy Rogel

Richard Stone and the Orchestration of Animaniacs

Tom and Randy discuss their song writing process and what it was like to collaborate with Richard Stone and other composers working on Animaniacs such as Steve and Julie Bernstein. Randy talks about the writing process and the excitement of seeing a full orchestra perform the songs that he wrote. Randy states that "The music was born at the podium."

Some of the show's musical parodies are also discussed including "Les Miseranimals" which was so close to the original "Les Miserables" that at one point Tom was certain that they would all get sued!

Tom Ruegger mentions that he heard that the newest incarnation of Animaniacs will continue to use a live orchestra which is very rare in today's world.

Yakko's World

Tom and Randy discuss Randy's first song he wrote for Animaniacs, "Yakko's World!" Tom marvels at the complexity of the song and talks about how it started off as a song involving Yakko wearing different hats of the world and eventually turned into

Influences

Randy and Tom talk about their musical influences. Tom's influences are eclectic and include everything from Rock n' Roll to TV theme songs. Randy talks about his background in musical theater and how it influenced his writing. Randy's performance in "Singin' in the Rain" is discussed as well as how the satirical compositions of Tom Lehrer had an influence on his writing.

Soundtracks and Alternative Lyrics

Randy and Tom talk about the difference between lyrics on the show versus the show's soundtracks. Randy talks about the time his song "A Quake! A Quake!" was re-recorded for the soundtrack "Yakko's World" and how he scrambled over to Tom's office to try to stop his lyrics from being changed!

Animaniacs in Concert!

Randy talks about working with Rob Paulsen and performing the songs of Animaniacs in front of a live audience. Randy and Rob have toured across the country and will have a eight shows coming up at Joe's Pub in New York. Cody Ruegger is also set to appear for one of the shows as well! For more information, go to AnimaniacsLive.com!

Each and every week, your hosts revisit an episode of Animaniacs in the order in which they first premiered. They discuss their favorite jokes, gags, and discuss all the cultural references they can find in "This Pun for Hire," "Star Truck," "Go Fish," and "The Multiplication Song!" Joey, Nathan and Kelly go over each segment, as well as discuss Dream Works, Star Trek, playing games alone and math in general.

This Pun for Hire

It’s a tour de force of puns and cameos in this Film Noir Parody. The Warners are on the case from Hello Nurse to find Dr. Scratchansniff, and end up running into Ralph the Guard and Minerva Mink as the plot twists into something else. As the title suggests, there are puns a plenty. We also get our first cameo from Freakazoid, and another cameo from *gasp* Steven Spielberg! Kelly explains the fast moving plot of the episode, while Nathan and Joey discuss as many jokes and references as possible. Duh, by gad, sir, I claim this segment to be worth listening to.

Star Truck

It’s Animaniacs meets Star Trek, when the Warners find themselves in an episode of their favorite show, Star Truck. There are so many references to the original show and movies, that there are plenty of jokes for a Trekkie and casual viewer alike. Joey, Nathan, and Kelly go over as many as possible.

Go Fish

Wakko plays Go Fish by himself, but then starts accusing himself of cheating. It’s a great segment, but it does bring up questions of Wakko’s sanity. Dot might say it best: "I'm worried about the Beaver."

Randy Beaman Segment

It's another story from our favorite kid, Colin. We also find out what Randy Beaman has been up to for almost thirty years.

Multiplication Song

In a song reminiscent to Tom Lehrer’s ‘New Math’, Yakko explains how to multiple 47 times 83. It’s more fun than educational, And the hosts have fun discussing their feelings about math

Different Ways to Support Our Show

If you'd like to support out show there's lots of ways to do it! First of all, you could go onto Apple Podcasts and leave us a five-star positive review.

Also, don't forget to tell a friend about the show! Your retweets and post shares help others find us.

Each and every week, your hosts revisit an episode of Animaniacs in the order in which they first premiered. They discuss their favorite jokes, gags, and discuss all the cultural references they can find! Today's episode features an unconventional group of segments with "Gimme the Works," "Buttons in Ows," and "Hercules Unwound."

Gimme the Works/Buttons in Ows/Hercules Unwound

Gimme the Works

Dot is over the whole tormenting the special friend gag, so the Warners decide to end this segment early. This is the shortest Warners segment with a title card, so there isn’t a lot to talk about. Still Joey, Nathan, and Kelly dissect the segment and come up with some theories on the writers.

Buttons in Ows

It’s Mindy and Buttons meets Wizard of Oz in this segment! Mindy chases Toto from Kansas to Oz and back to Kansas, with Buttons hot on her trail. On the way she meets a witch, a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion, until she meets the wizard who turns out to be a familiar mouse bent on world domination. Kelly, Nathan, and Joey have a lot of fun discussing theories and similarities to the original movie.

Hercules Unwound

The Warners are back for another segment… but again they don’t really feel like doing it, So Pinky and the Brain become the focus as they try to steal Zeus’ lightning bolt while Hercules is busy cleaning the stables. Pinky and the Brain manage to get all the way to Olympus but as soon as they reach the lightning bolt it’s thrown down at earth, causing a dam to break and cleaning the stables for Hercules. As a reward, the Warners return to close out the episode. This is another very interesting segment with plenty of references, and Nathan, Joey, and Kelly discuss all they can find.

Each and every week, your hosts revisit an episode of Animaniacs in the order in which they first premiered. They discuss their favorite jokes, gags, and discuss all the cultural references they can find! Today's episode features a great way to memorize the names of the presidents with "The Presidents Song." Then Pinky and the Brain return with "Don't Tread on Us." Finally, "The Flame Returns" to tell the tale of Paul Revere.

The Presidents Song/Don't Tread on Us/The Flame Returns

The Presidents Song

The Warners sing about the presidents from George Washington to Bill Clinton in the tune of William Tell Overture. This song is the perfect balance of educational and entertaining. Kelly, Joey, and Nathan discuss their favorite parts.

Don't Tread on Us

Pinky and the Brain are in the year 1776, just in time to swap the Declaration of Independence with the Declaration of Obedience. Unfortunately things don’t go as planned, as Brain gets covered in Ink, struck by lightning, and deaf from the Liberty bell. Nathan starts going off on some conspiracy theory about Pinky and the Brain, while Kelly and Joey both discuss what they enjoyed in the segment. Back to the Future connections are also theorized and shot down.

The Flame Returns

The Flame is back and reading the poem "Paul Revere’s Ride," while we get visual representations featuring cameos by at least one of every main story character of the Animaniacs cast. This segment stays incredibly close to the source material while keeping things visually interesting for the kids. The hosts discuss their favorite parts and some exclusive information from Tom Ruegger himself about the making of this cartoon.

Rob Paulsen is One of the Nicest People on Earth

Joey reads off some more listeners emails detailing their experiences meeting Rob Paulsen including Joey O. who shared a link to an interview he had with Rob Paulsen. As well as Kristy Sproul who detailed how Rob Paulsen's work in Animaniacs ended up setting her on the path towards Voice Chasers!

Kathryn Page Rundown

Nathan does a marvelous job acting out the last of the Kathryn Page credit gags!

Different Ways to Support Our Show

If you'd like to support out show there's lots of ways to do it! First of all, you could go onto Apple Podcasts and leave us a five-star positive review.

Also, don't forget to tell a friend about the show! Your retweets and post shares help others find us.

Each and every week, your hosts revisit an episode of the series in the order in which they first premiered. They discuss their favorite jokes, gags, and discuss all the cultural references they can find! In this special episode, Joey and Nathan get to discuss another comic book issue of Animaniacs. This comes after the hosts had their own issues with recording the podcast for episode 75. But no worries! Nathan and Joey also find some more emails for our ongoing Rob Paulsen segment, and share their thoughts of the Freak-A-Con.

We've Got More Issues (of Animaniacs Comics)

The Cover of Issue #5

This cover has almost everyone on it, and all the characters are riding a roller coaster, and it has nothing to do with the comic!!! Oh well, Nathan and Joey discuss it anyways...

Not-So-Model Mother

It’s the 19th century, and the perfect weather for a picnic. When Dot finally finds a spot to eat, her brothers pop out of the basket having eaten her food. Before she gets too mad though, they spot an artist literally painting the landscape, and find out it’s James Whistler, a not famous painter. He laments that he cannot afford a model to paint, so the Warners offer to model for free. Unfortunately when brought back to is studio, they won’t stay still, and trash the place. Things only get worse for Whistler, when his mom comes into party. All she wants to do is have fun, and won’t let her son paint. Luckily, the Warners come up with a plan to have everyone play musical chairs, when Whistler’s Mom wins the game, she finds out she is glued to the chair, letting Whistler paint his now famous painting.

A Wing and a Prayer

The year is 1903, and the Wright brothers have just built their plane, but neither one is willing to fly it. Luckily the Warners are in earshot, and get recruited for the job. Dot gets sucked up in the propellers, and Wakko immediately crashes the plane. After it gets rebuilt, it’s Yakko's turn, but he accidentally knocks the Wright brothers onto plane, and they fly off in the sunset. Nathan and Joey find their favorite jokes and whether or not they could see this as an actual episode.

The Trouble With Trainees

Plotz has had it with the Warners destroying the studio, so they are off to boot camp with Ralph to learn how to be a guard. After some initial difficulties, with Ralph getting mauled by lions, and hit with a security gate, The Warners actually seemed to be taking to their training, but as soon as Plotz starts to relax, he finds out that the Warners have barricaded the lot, and are not letting anyone in, no matter what. That is the last straw and they are kicked off security duty. Is this the best segment of the Issue? Nathan and Joey will discuss what they liked, and what confused them.

Freak-A-Con

Join Joey and Nathan as they discuss the first ever Freakazoid convention and some highlights. You can see the entire Freak-A-Con replay by going to Facebook.com/FreakACon or go to the Freak-A-Con's YouTube page!

Rob Paulsen: One of the Nicest People on Earth

Joey and Nathan read off some more emails from our listeners who share their memories of first meeting Rob Paulsen.